The government said on Friday that wheat production is likely to fall by 1-2 million tonnes due to the recent bad weather, but the total output in the current year will reach a record 112.2 million tonnes on higher acreage and yield.
The government’s wheat procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) is underway and nearly 7 lakh tonnes have been procured so far, up from 2 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
The Center asked roller flour mills to procure directly from farmers to meet their requirements instead of seeking stocks from state-owned FCI under the open market sale scheme.
The government also rejected the demand of the industry to lift the ban on export of wheat products in view of the bumper production.
Releasing private wheat crop estimates at an event organized by the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, Subodh Kumar Singh, additional secretary in the food ministry, said there was a difference between the wheat production estimated by the government and industry last year.
However, there are some similarities in the crop estimates this year. The first is a general increase in wheat acreage by 3-5%, the second is that unseasonal rains and hailstorms will result in a production loss of about 1-2 million tonnes and the third, an additional 5-5.5 million tonnes. During the last year, he said.
“Production will be higher by 5-5.5 million tonnes than last year’s government estimate,” he added.
This means that total wheat production will touch the record 112.2 million tonnes set for the 2022-23 crop year (July-June) and surpass this level as well.
Agriwatch initially estimated wheat production at 104.24 million tonnes for 2022-23, compared to 97.7 million tonnes in the previous year. However, it brought down the estimate to 102.9 million tonnes after taking into account crop losses due to unseasonal rains.
In the 2021-22 crop year (July-June), wheat production was slated to decline by 1.84 million tonnes to 107.74 million tonnes due to heat waves in some parts of the growing states. As a result, the government’s procurement came down to 19 million tonnes, according to government data.
The Additional Secretary further said that the surveys are important as commodity prices have risen across the globe. Production varies and estimates are important for making policy decisions on exports and OMSS.
He said that production is going to increase significantly and availability will be better than last year.
The Additional Secretary said that due to the recent rains resulting in reduction in quality, the government has taken a timely decision to relax the procurement norms in Madhya Pradesh, where grains with luster loss are being procured at MSP.
He said that the government is considering the requests of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana governments.
“We expect government procurement to be better this year. We will have enough stock to meet PDS and market intervention,” he said.
Meanwhile, domestic prices of wheat and wheat products like atta are currently in decline due to export restrictions and sale of grains at subsidized rates to bulk consumers through the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS).
Speaking on the occasion, Ashok K Meena, Chairman and Managing Director, Food Corporation of India, said that about 7 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured so far, which is more than 2 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.
“We are hopeful of achieving the procurement target of 34.2 million tonnes this year,” he said.
Taking into account the sale of wheat under OMSS, wheat stock with FCI as on April 1 was 8.4 lakh tonnes, he said, adding that the country has enough wheat to meet the demand of food security and market intervention.
On this occasion, the president of the federation Pramod Kumar requested the government to reconsider lifting the ban on export of wheat products after government procurement.
The government has banned the export of wheat from May 22 to contain the rise in domestic prices.